NEWS: IWGP Women’s Championship Defence Ends Prematurely Due to Injury

Photo Courtesy: Ice Ribbon

Mayu Iwatani’s dream match against Ice Ribbon’s Tsukasa Fujimoto is one that everyone had been looking forward to since it was teased at the culmination of Iwatani’s incredible match against Sareee at the end of April. After May’s Flashing Champions PPV that saw Mayu team with Hanan against the Best Friends of Arisa Nakajima and Fujimoto in a losing effort, the dream match was given higher stakes, with the IWGP Women’s Championship on the line inside an Ice Ribbon ring for the first time.

With the match scheduled for Ice Ribbon’s next Korakuen Hall show – Ribbon After the Rain on June 23rd – fans waited with bated breath.

Once that opening bell rang, it seemed that fans were not going to be disappointed, with Iwatani and Fujimoto accelerating past the 15 minute mark and beginning to build to what would undoubtedly have been a blistering crescendo, when injury struck.

Taking to the top rope in order to hit the Venus Shot, a move she hits with regularity, Fujimoto connected with Mayu but then landed awkwardly on her right arm. It became immediately obvious from her distress and the way she was holding the arm that something was wrong, and in spite Fujimoto’s furious declarations that she was fine, referee Barb Sasaki made the right call to end the match, with it being announced shortly after that she had actually dislocated her elbow.

It’s devastating for Fujimoto for the match to end this way, however Mayu promised to hold the belt until she is fit to fight again – trying to offer some semblance of comfort to a clearly upset Fujimoto.

We at The Stardom Cast wish Tsukasa Fujimoto a speedy recovery.

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About Rob Goodwin 149 Articles
Hailing from Stoke-on-Trent, Rob fell back in love with the Wrestling Business in 2016 after a decade-long break. Rob is the host of the PodMania Wrestling Podcast, the StardomCast and reviews retro PPVs - with an odd fascination with 1995 WWF/WCW!

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